The book club discussed the fifth book of the "Maisie Dobbs" series by Jacqueline Winspear several weeks back during the October session. An Incomplete Revenge features psychologist and investigator Maisie Dobbs--a highly motivated woman who pursuits an education and opportunities to move to a professionally-recognized status from that of a house servant. This book series is set during and following the first World War.Winspear's picture here comes courtesy of her website.
In this novel, Maisie Dobbs is employed by an old friend to check out the feasibility of a land purchase. The land is in a village outside London in Kent and peculiar news stories from the area raise concern for Dobbs employer--incidents of fires. She arrives during a harvest season and works to gain the trust of the locals, including a gypsy community with which she finds an affinity.
The truth of the mysteries lie in a community's hidden secrets and try as she might, Maisie is the outsider--the woman driving around the village in her MG car.
Some quick observations (shared here) included:
- Maisie attempts to fit a community setting by picking up on the language or terms used by the residents or setting
- Maisie has a young assistant who's also a working stiff type and family man, Billy, and she offers him some work with investigations but hasn't reached out to help him as a mentor
- Maisie has personal troubles that stop her from leading a cheerful life
- however, she has a warm relationship with her father
- incidents of community secrets (or shame?) include nearly the whole community.
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